Offshore Wind

This page has information about offshore wind energy development (both ocean and Great Lakes, with some specifics about North Carolina). If you have questions about any of this, or have other material that should be included, or find any errors here, or would like to be on our email list, please email John Droz.

Make sure to look at the rest of this WiseEnergy.org website (see menus above), as there are several hundred studies and reports about the negative economic, environmental and technical consequences of industrial wind energy. Several videos worth watching are here. These videos are specifically about offshore wind: here and here. Our Offshore Energy Position Paper is about offshore fossil fuels and offshore wind energy.

Make sure to also check out our page of some North Carolina laws, proposed legislation, pertinent agencies, etc. as many of these directly apply to offshore wind energy. To keep current with what’s going on with this matter, please periodically check back here for updates.

Quickie overview: The federal government, BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management) has been aggressively promoting offshore wind development for the US coastline, including NC. This will consist of industrial turbines over 600± foot tall — which would be the tallest turbines in the US. [Note 1: How huge is 600 feet? Note 2: GE recently unveiled an 850 foot turbine aimed at the offshore market.]

There have been multiple proposals for offshore wind development off the NC Coast. After some “reviews” BOEM “reduced” these to two large areas: near Wilmington, and near Kill Devil Hills. See this BOEM NC offshore wind history for more details.

Our position is that alternative energy sources should be encouraged — but none should be permitted on the public grid until a scientific assessment proves that they are a NET societal benefit. No such scientific assessment exists for wind energy! In fact the evidence from studies done by independent experts conclude that wind energy is a net economics and environmental loser. See below (and read through this website — esp EnergyPresentation.Info) for more details.

A NC law (H484) was passed in 2013, which sets up the first statewide wind energy permitting process. The NCDEQ (formerly DENR) is the lead agency. As explained on our NC Wind Energy Information page, H484 is a very weak law, that provides only minimal protections — and will likely not apply to offshore wind projects located in federal waters. Partly due to that, the NCDEQ Secretary sent BOEM a 2015 letter spelling out the state’s official (and very reasonable) position on offshore wind energy: that turbines should be 24+ nautical miles from the shore. To their credit, the Village of Bald Head Island (BHI) passed a formal resolution in 2015, advocating the same protection. The BHI Homeowners Association also passed a resolution opposing offshore wind.

1-Get thoroughly educated. Carefully study all of the material below. The more educated you are, the better your chances of success are against an experienced opponent.

2-Stand on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before. Meet with those who have had success with this fight (e.g. in the US: Audra Parker). Learn what worked and what did not. (Compare this result to the earlier dismissal of her chances…)

3-Join forces. There is strength in numbers, so working together with others who have overlapping interests is wise.

4-Broaden your scope. There are numerous liabilities with offshore wind, so restricting your fight to just some of them is akin to fighting with one hand tied behind your back.

Study: offshore turbines closer than 25 miles to shore will substantially reduce coastal tourism [To address this reality, note that this Maryland bill requires offshore turbines to be at least 26 miles out.]